Hello Again, It's Been Awhile

     So, it's been a while since I've blogged, and I apologize for that.  I can only say that it's been one heck of a year so far . . .   I've moved to fourth grade and have more students in my class than I ever have before, I'm now in a 1:1 classroom (so I'm learning a new curriculum while I'm learning how to incorporate more tech into our daily routine), I'm tutoring a group of 5th graders once a week, and I'm trying to have time to have a personal life ~ including working as a production assistant on SofaCouch MovieFilms short movies.

     Here are a few highlights:

I love the new laptops we're lucky enough to have, and I think the kids love them even more!

Taking a quiz online is so exciting!

The teachers I work with are a fabulous group ~ rolling and  sticky noting my room.  Truly priceless!

When your principal says wear a tacky holiday sweater, you wear a Tacky sweater!

  {WARNING: The next picture is not for the faint of heart!}

Working as a production assistant on the "gore effects" on the film set.   It's amazing how realistic panty hose, paper towels, and fake blood can be!

     Here's to having fun with what you do, both inside the classroom and out!

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New Room Update

     I spent some time yesterday in my classroom, 

putting up the fabric and borders on my bulletin boards.  

Can you spot a theme?

I love using ribbon as a border!

More of the ribbon border.  The border on the right is magnetic to stick to white boards, but my board isn't magnetic, so I had to use hot glue.

Math board on the left, student work board on the right.

I'm already having issues with the busyness of this soon-to-be data wall.  I'm going to cover large parts of it with graphs of student assessment results, and I'm still looking for a solid border.  It's wrapping paper that was on clearance at a local grocery store for 50 cents a roll.  I couldn't pass it up!

I had decided that I didn't want a "theme" for my classroom this year, just a color scheme, and when I found these folders in the clearance section of Wal Mart, I knew I had it.

I love the blues and greens with the pop of other colors.  And the birds are just too cute!

 So, I'm doing a combination of dots and cute birds this year,

with a color scheme of blues and greens with pops of other colors. 

Stay tuned for a step-by-step making of some "chandeliers" for my room.  

We'll see if it turns into a "how to" or a "how NOT to!"

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New Year, New Grade, New Classroom. . . OH MY!

     This summer has been full of workshops, gardening, riding my bike, and finding out that I'm moving to a new grade level!  This means that not only am I moving classrooms (a lot of work in and of itself), but I get to learn a new curriculum this year.  The same year we're introducing a new technology initiative.  And going further into the Common Core.

     My new fourth grade teammates have been wonderful.  Last year, they did "expert planning," where each person planned one subject for the whole grade level, resulting in each one becoming an expert in her subject.  Because of the changes in the reading and math curriculum this year, our team of six has divided in to two groups of three; one will plan math and the other will plan reading/language arts.  I'm know I'm going to learn so much from them!

     Now, on to my new room...  It's the same size and basic shape as my old room, but I'm going to have more students and bigger desks, so everything will need to be up against a wall in order to give us room to spread out and work in groups around the room.

This lovely super giant piece of furniture will (hopefully) be removed soon!  

 

Standing in the doorway, looking across the room toward the other door leading into another classroom.

My wall o' bulletin boards.  Soon to be a math board, student work wall, and data/daily objectives wall.

Still at the doorway, looking toward the front of the room and the ActivBoard.

Front corner:  teacher books, student coats/backpack hooks

Other end of the student hooks, cabinet and sink, doorway.

     And now for some close-ups!

A super cute wall sticker I got from the dollar store!  I stuck him to my filing cabinet to make it less industrial and office drab-looking.

My new small group area in front of the student work wall.  The red fabric is coming down--I need a new, calming color.

I have at least 8 boxes of books I'll need to sort through and decide how I want to organize them this year.

     I will post pictures as I decorate, arrange, and organize.  Please leave me some feedback and let me know what you like!

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